Protein folding is a process by which a protein structure assumes its functional shape of conformation, and has been the subject of research since the publication of the first software tool for protein structure prediction. Protein folding in silico approaches this issue by introducing an ab initio model that attempts to simulate as far as possible the folding process as it takes place in vivo, and attempts to construct a mechanistic model on the basis of the predictions made. The opening chapters discuss the early stage intermediate and late stage intermediate models, followed by a...

This volume presents a review of the latest numerical techniques used to identify ligand binding and protein complexation sites. It should be noted that there are many other theoretical studies devoted to predicting the activity of specific proteins and that useful protein data can be found in numerous databases. The aim of advanced computational techniques is to identify the active sites in specific proteins and moreover to suggest a generalized mechanism by which such protein-ligand (or protein-protein) interactions can be effected. Developing such tools is not an easy task it requires...

The objective of this book is to present the strategies employed by living organisms on a molecular level and to help understand the basics of Systems Biology. Its content is organized in a way to meet the exponential growth in the volume of biological knowledge, and the need for a multidisciplinary approach in the practice of teaching modern biology. For this reason, the whole material is divided into five chapters, each devoted to a fundamental concept: Structure-Function, Energy, Information, Regulation and Interrelationships. The book describes generic mechanisms which occur in biology...